Indigenous activists see Trump’s Columbus Day rhetoric as cause for continued advocacy
By Graham Lee Brewer This week, President Donald Trump announced he won’t recognize Indigenous Peoples Day and will bring Columbus Day “back from the ashes” — another sign some Native leaders say that advocacy for Indigenous representation must continue during Trump’s second term in the White House. Columbus Day, celebrated annually in October, venerates the accomplishments of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. Native Americans have been lobbying local and federal governments for decades to replace celebrations of Columbus with a holiday that recognizes the contributions of Indigenous peoples. For many, the goal was to not only create a celebration of the beauty of Indigenous cultures and experiences but to also recast Columbus’ historical framing. Instead of focusing on his navigation to the Americas, many Native people want to increase awareness of...
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Albertans rally for separation, saying things won’t change under Confederation
By Rob Drinkwater Katheryn Speck said she used to be a Canadian nationalist, travelled the world with a maple leaf on her backpack and once lived in Quebec so she could become fluently bilingual. But on Saturday she was among hundreds of people who rallied at the Alberta legislature to support separation from Canada, with many in the crowd waving Alberta flags and a few even displaying the U.S. Stars and Stripes. “I thought it was a beautiful, fantastic country. But now I’m so disappointed. I’m literally crushed that we’ll never be represented in this country and there’s never a chance of changing the government,” Speck said. Earlier this week, Premier Danielle Smith’s government proposed legislation that would lower the bar for holding a referendum. While Smith told reporters she...
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‘Endless Cookie’ wins $50,000 audience award at Hot Docs Festival
An animated documentary about the relationship between an Indigenous and white pair of half-brothers has won the top prize at this year’s Hot Docs Festival. “Endless Cookie” took home the $50,000 audience award at a ceremony on Sunday. Festival organizers described the film, directed by brothers Seth and Peter Scriver based on their own lives and families, as “a colourful collage of animated vignettes” that explore their “complex bond.” Other awards handed out at the festival in recent days include the $10,000 award for best Canadian feature documentary, which went to “Agatha’s Almanac,” directed by Amalie Atkins. The film portrays a 90-year-old Mennonite woman’s life alone on her ancestral farm in southern Manitoba, and jurors praise it as “poetic and playful, yet intensely political.” Meanwhile the $10,000 award for best...
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Alberta NDP votes to allow opting out of federal party membership
By Lisa Johnson Alberta’s New Democratic Party has voted overwhelmingly to cut traditional membership ties with its federal counterpart. Delegates in Edmonton voted Saturday to allow provincial members to opt out of joining the federal NDP, a move Leader Naheed Nenshi campaigned on last year. In adopting the measure, the party is shedding what many considered a political albatross. Nenshi told reporters the party’s longtime practice of automatically signing up members to the federal party was a sticking point that scared some potential voters and members away. The change, he said, will allow his NDP to build a bigger tent. “It’s a great movement for the very, very many thousands and thousands of Albertans who really like what the Alberta NDP have to say, but don’t necessarily agree with the...
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Territorial premiers say internal trade talks should consider northern context
By Ashley Joannou The premiers of Canada’s three territories say the country’s push to remove internal trade barriers needs to consider the unique economic situation of the North. Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai, Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok say they will be exploring the creation of a “territorial trade zone” that would make sure modern treaties with Indigenous people and the needs of the territories are recognized as trade barriers come down. The premiers met this weekend in Yukon for their annual Northern Premiers’ Forum. Pillai told reporters at a joint press conference Sunday that the territories are willing, where possible, to remove trade barriers but any conversations have to consider agreements that are in place with northern Indigenous governments. Newly-elected Prime Minister Mark Carney has...
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Indigenous people raise awareness about their missing and murdered
By Michael Warren Indigenous people across North America are calling this week for sustained responses to the violence in their communities, much of it against women and girls. In prayer walks, self-defense classes, marches and speeches at state capitols, they are pushing for better cooperation among law enforcement agencies to find missing people and solve homicides that are among about 4,300 open FBI cases this year. Some parents say they will use Monday’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day to make sure children understand what’s at stake. Many young women are covering their mouths with bright red handprints, vowing to speak for those who have been silenced. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Indigenous women are more than twice as likely to be victims of homicide than the national...
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Carney says he won’t make a pact with NDP, confirms King Charles to launch Parliament
By Dylan Robertson King Charles will visit Ottawa to deliver the speech from the throne at the end of this month in a show of support for Canadian sovereignty, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday. The news came in his first press conference since leading the Liberals to a fourth straight mandate in Monday’s election, where he laid out the priorities for his first few months, promising to “embark on the biggest transformation of our economy since the end of the Second World War.” “This will be an incredibly exciting time as we take control of our economic destiny to create a new Canadian economy that works for everyone,” Carney said in a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa. The first step toward enacting that promise comes...
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Kahnawake grand chief to wait and see on Carney
By Olivier Cadotte, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo said that in the days following the Liberal Party of Canada winning a minority government mandate – electing, at the time of writing, 168 members of Parliament (MPs) – he is being cautious about prime minister Mark Carney and the return of the Liberals to office. “I have to see what he’s all about. They always talk a big game when they’re running for office,” said Diabo. “They’ll say things, then they get elected, and then it’s a different story. So we’re in a wait and see mode right now, but we’re still going to be pushing our issues.” That being said, Diabo is not exactly impressed about some of the promises the Liberals...
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A fourth person dies from a Minneapolis mass shooting and the suspect is charged with murder
By Steve Karnowski MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A fourth person has died from a mass shooting in Minneapolis earlier this week in which investigators believe a fifth person was killed hours late in retaliation, police said Friday. The 28-year-old man had been hospitalized in grave condition since the shootings late Tuesday, and died Thursday shortly after federal authorities arrested a 34-year-old suspect, the Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement. The murder charges allege the suspect was in a vehicle with five other people when he shot them all in the head before fleeing. One of them survived and was able to identify the suspect to police. Police say the victims were Native American. The shootings have shaken the large Indigenous community in the Phillips neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis. Police...
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Seven facing charges after Six Nations Police raid local operation
OHSWEKEN, ON- Six Nations Police have charged seven people in connection with a cocaine trafficking operation at Six Nations Six Nations Police’ Drug Enforcement Unit raided two residences and a motor vehicle on Chiefswood Road and Fifth Line Road April 9, 2025. Police executed the Section 11 Controlled Drugs & Substances Act Search Warrants seizing suspected cocaine, fentanyl, currency, scales, drug packaging along with a handgun with ammunition. As a result police have arrested and charged seven people in connection: Diamond Butler, 20 and Keara Lickers, 19, both of Ohsweken, ON with the following criminal offences: – Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking – Cocaine – Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking – Fentanyl – Weapon: Unauthorized Possession – Possession Over $5,000 – Weapon: Knowledge of Unauthorized Possession Daniel Butler,...
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Sturgeon Lake and Mikisew chiefs tell premier to cease and desist ‘separatist threats’
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News In the wake of the 2025 federal election revealing an increasingly polarized electorate, First Nations leaders in Alberta are demanding that Premier Danielle Smith stop fanning the flames of separatism. On Wednesday, two days after the election, Chief Sheldon Sunshine of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro of Mikisew Cree Nation co-authored a cease and desist letter to Premier Smith regarding her “separatist threats.” Smith, who warned Prime Minister Mark Carney of an “unprecedented national unity crisis” if he doesn’t accede to several policy demands, has said that while she won’t initiate a referendum on Alberta independence, she won’t prevent one from occurring if it goes through the appropriate process. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Mickey Amery introduced legislation...
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Indigenous youth travel south to find rhythm, credits and connection
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator Several dozen Indigenous youth from 14 northern, fly-in communities have travelled by helicopters, planes, boats and long bus rides to gather in a large barn in Brant County. Some smile. Others have intense looks of concentration. But one by one, they come out of their shells as they move to the music — an upbeat mix that sounds like a Girl Talk-Indigenous fusion. They’re there for a rigorous week of dance rehearsals with professional choreographers, which will culminate in Outside Looking In’s (OLI) 18th annual showcase on May 9 at Chrysalis in Toronto. But the week isn’t just about dance — it will empower and help them envision a future beyond high school, OLI’s CEO Hope Sanderson told The Spectator....
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Montreal men plead guilty after keeping woman’s body on couch for six months
Two Montreal men have pleaded guilty to committing an indignity to a body after admitting they left the remains of an Indigenous woman on the couch in their home for six months. Prosecutor Simon Lapierre confirmed that brothers Nicodemo and Francesco Sansalone admitted guilt this week in the death of Alasie Tukkiapik. A statement of facts read in court says the 41-year-old’s family reported her missing in September 2023 in the Inuit village of Kangiqusujuaq, after not being able to reach her for several months in Montreal where she had been living. Montreal police went to the address where she had reportedly been staying and met Nicodemo Sansalone, who told them she had died six months prior and had been on the couch ever since. The statement of facts says...
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Essex Region Conservation Authority plants seven-millionth tree
By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press Since it began operating in 1973, one of the main focuses of the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) has been to restore natural areas locally. Since its existence, the natural tree cover of the region has increased from less than three-percent to 5.4% today, with the percentage of total natural areas now measuring 8.5%. Though that is a tremendous achievement – accomplished through partnerships, volunteers, partners, and organizations over the past five-decades – there is a way to go to reach the United Nation’s minimum standard for sustainability of 12%, ERCA’s Chairperson and Amherstburg Councillor, Molly Allaire, said. ERCA’s tree planting program began in 1976, and 32,000 trees were added to the regional landscape in that first year. At its...
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A 250-year plan is in the works to protect Okanagan-Similkameen watersheds
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Early discussions have started about a quarter-millennium-long plan to protect siwɬkw (water) in the Okanagan-Similkameen region’s watersheds. The early steps to creating a 250-year, multigenerational roadmap comes months after syilx Okanagan leaders and local government officials formally pledged to increase their water protection advocacy. “The biggest thing will be communicating to our constituents that it’s about the fish, it’s about this place, it’s about us, it’s about our future,” said Tim Lezard, a councillor with the Penticton Indian Band. “With the 250-year plan, those will be the goals … Some people don’t have that worldview.” More than 20 members of the Okanagan Similkameen Collaborative Leadership Table gathered for a meeting in the District of Lake Country on April 24. The meeting brought...
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Nuclear waste plan ‘not a done deal’
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Those who remain troubled by the prospect of spent radioactive nuclear-fuel rods being trucked or railed through Northwestern towns and villages may take some solace in the projected timeline: it’s not going to be happening anytime soon. Though community support for a deep underground storage site to be built just west of Ignace was obtained late last year, approval for the project is a decade away, the project’s proponent says. “The next step is the 10-year regulatory decision-making process,” a regional Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) spokesman said last week in an email. “This rigorous process will ensure that the (Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s) understanding of the safety of the repository is independently confirmed, by both the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission,...
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Carney says he won’t make a pact with NDP, confirms King Charles to launch Parliament
By Dylan Robertson King Charles will visit Ottawa to deliver the speech from the throne at the end of this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday. Speaking at the National Press Theatre, Carney said Parliament will be recalled on May 26, and the King will read the speech outlining the new government’s priorities on May 27. The prime minister said he invited King Charles and Queen Camilla to launch this session of Parliament as a show of sovereignty in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of annexation. “This is a historic honour which matches the weight of our times,” Carney told a Friday morning news conference — his first since Canadians voted the Liberals back in for a fourth mandate. Carney said that in a Tuesday call...
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Alberta MP resigns to allow Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre to run
Battle River—Crowfoot, AB – Damien Kurek, Conservative MP-elect for Battle River is resiging his seat to to allow Conservative Party of Canada Leader, Pierre Poilievre, to run in a coming by-election. “It has been a tremendous honour to serve the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot as their Member of Parliament since 2019. Their support and commitment to the Conservative movement and our mission to bring back hope and prosperity to this country has been unmatched. Which is why, after much discussion with my wife Danielle, and I have decided to step aside for this Parliamentary session to allow our Conservative Party Leader to run here in a by-election. “Pierre Poilievre just finished a remarkable national campaign that received the highest vote share since 1988. An unstoppable movement has grown...
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Here’s what the Liberals promised for health care. But can they deliver?
By Nicole Ireland Until U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty came along, many thought health care would be a key issue in the federal election. Instead, it came across as an after-thought to more immediate economic concerns that often hijacked campaign headlines. “I can’t recall an election in recent decades where less attention was given to health care,” said Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus in political science at the University of Toronto. Wiseman pegs the oversight to tense relations with the United States and the Trump administration, which he says “eclipsed virtually all other issues except affordability.” Health issues are certainly no less pressing and the Liberals included several health-care pledges in their platform. Now that the party has been handed another mandate, here’s what doctors,...
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Court gives green light to part of ’60s Scoop’ class action
By Alessia Passafiume The Federal Court has rejected the federal government’s motion to dismiss a claim for monetary relief in a class-action lawsuit brought by non-status individuals and Métis who were involved in the so-called “’60s Scoop.” It’s also granting the plaintiffs’ request for a motion declaring that the Crown had a duty of care to these kids — but only the ones placed or adopted through Saskatchewan’s Adopt Indian Métis [AIM] program. The ’60s Scoop refers to a period when governments in Canada oversaw the large-scale removal of Indigenous children from their homes to live outside of their communities, mostly with non-Indigenous caregivers. A class-action settlement for survivors saw the federal government pay about $750 million in compensation — but Métis were largely excluded from that because child welfare...
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